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igus® Ltd.
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Speed – quicker feedback, quicker development, quicker market entry
Those who optimise their product development processes win the competition for innovative solutions. Rapid prototyping and its generative processes allow new concepts to be quickly and iteratively realised and tested and easily adapted. Designers and stakeholders can test fully functional prototypes quicker – directly in the application – and provide feedback, eliminating the need for intermediate steps and ensuring that the finished product is ready to go sooner that it would be with conventional prototyping methods.
Economy – less effort, fewer errors, lower costs
Eliminating plant, special tools, and manual effort reduces costs. Rapid prototyping is based on digital models that need not be stored and whose adjustment does not involve additional costs. 3D models from prototypes can be manufactured quickly at low cost as single pieces or small series by specialised service providers who have both the necessary expertise and the various systems required to deliver the best possible result. But prototype construction with the company's own systems can be profitable if they are used often, since the manufacturing time and the costs associated with external services are eliminated. Tests with functional prototypes as early as the development phase greatly reduce the risk of errors during final product manufacture, since design, material, and fit have already been extensively tested by that time.
Flexibility – more design latitude, more optimisation, more innovation
Additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping methods allow implementation of ideas and designs that used to be either completely unthinkable or very difficult to put into practice. This allows innovative solutions to be quickly realised, tested, optimised, and refined until they function as intended. It also opens up many options for material selection, since prototypes can, without much effort, be manufactured from the necessary material or various materials and compared directly with each other in application. It is thus possible to manufacture multiple prototypes of various materials in order to directly map multiple functionalities.
Sustainability – faster processes, less waste, more recycling
Generative manufacturing methods create far less waste than subtractive ones and require less material. While some methods require the creation of supporting structures that must be removed after printing, unused powder for such methods as selective laser sintering can be reused for other prototypes. The time and material saved in rapid prototyping can be used for other projects.
The process used to manufacture prototypes depends on the application requirements. The mechanical properties of a sample are determined not only by the material, but also by the printing method. The time and the quantity of the prototypes to be produced also affect the choice of printing method.
Selective laser sintering
This method is well suited to manufacture customised individual parts of up to 10,000 units. It involves a laser that melts thermoplastic powder layer by layer to create the specified part. Prototypes created with this method feature a high load capacity. It is the additive manufacturing process most often used at igus, as strength, precision, and component price are superior. Various finishing options are offered, such as colouring or polishing.
Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)
Based on special plastic filaments, this method creates especially robust components in small quantities. An important advantage of the FDM method is the wide selection of materials for special requirements such as high temperatures and food contact and the comparatively simple combinability of various materials to produce a prototype. This method does not allow complex geometries to be mapped as flexibly as laser sintering does.
Rapid Tooling (print2mold): Injection-moulded parts from additively manufactured injection moulding tools
For industrial prototyping, high-volume production of functional prototypes, and special material requirements, additive manufacture of injection moulding tools is frequently a good idea. A greater selection of materials is available, since not every plastic is available for 3D printing. This technology allows the manufacture of technical prototypes that are largely identical to the final product, but the peculiarities of injection moulding limit design freedom more than 3D printed prototypes would. Depending on requirements and the necessary number of units, injection moulds are manufactured with metal or with the Stereolithography (SLA) method.
Subtractive methods: bar stock
Prototypes manufactured from bar stock also allow both material and mechanical properties to be mapped as early as the test phase and tested in their full functionality. This method involves material being removed mechanically by such methods as milling to manufacture the necessary workpiece from the raw material. The advantage of this technology is that it removes certain limitations that are present in 3D printing, such as minimum wall thickness. The material selection for prototyping with bar stock is greater than for additive manufacturing. This method's cost advantage is in the production of large quantities or especially simple parts.
Other commonly used prototyping methods
While igus uses the methods listed above to manufacture plastic prototypes, there are various other methods used for prototype production, including vacuum casting, contour crafting, laser powder forming, space puzzle moulding and layer laminate manufacturing.
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